INTERVIEW: We won’t give up says Comets’ Gold-en boy

DUNDEE COMETS captain Lewis Gold insists his team won’t give up on the season – despite being out of league contention.

They have four games left, two of which against Kirkcaldy Kestrels with the first of those meetings this Saturday at Dundee Ice Arena.

And although qualification for the play-offs could be clinched this weekend, Gold remains disappointed they couldn’t do it against Edinburgh Capitals last weekend.

He said: “We’re looking to finish as high as we can in the league as it’s important for us not to give up on our season because the league doesn’t look within reach.

“Mentally there’s still a lot to play for in the final four games plus we still have our derby with the Tigers to play which is always fun.

“Last week, I looked at the Edinburgh game as an opportunity to see how far we had come as a group and when we played them before the New Year I think the score flattered us a little.

“Last week in Dundee was a lot more difficult to take as they showed up with two lines and it looked like a great opportunity for us to take the points.

“Being an Edinburgh boy you always go into those games looking to prove something but I think we lost a lot of focus after we saw what we were up against, having expected a lot more depth from the Caps.

“In the end, we all have good days and bad days and they deserved the credit for working hard to earn the victory.”

Comets’ title challenge slipped away despite early season confidence and as far as the title challenge goes, they’ve ended up as outsiders looking in.

Gold revealed there were issues off the ice that contributed to that and insisted that things are better now since they were dealt with.

But he joked he’ll accept some refreshments from fans of Edinburgh and Paisley if his team can take points from the Kestrels and open the title race up further.

He added: “There were a couple things here and there that had to be addressed in our squad over the first few months of the season, but this is was dealt with internally and I think we are a stronger for it.

“I think it would be ignorant to say other teams in this league don’t share some of the same problems. We play the game at amateur level so there’s a mixture of guys at various stages of their hockey development.

“Because of their lives away from the rink, it’s not always possible to have every player at every game and practice which can sometimes damage morale and the goals we set out.

“Every hockey season has its frustrations but I am more confident in our boys than ever that we still have something left to give this season.

“Bringing in Adam Walker to the coaching side was a shroud move by Rab and John and you can already see the benefits of that.

“As for the games, I haven’t thought too much about the possibility of fans of the other teams supporting us in the hope we do them a favour.

“That said, if we do I’ll be expecting a crate of beer for the boys from Edinburgh (with beer actually in it) and I’ll let the Paisley fans off with a bottle of their finest wine.”